Air quality & health

Good air quality is important to your health. How air pollution affects you depends on the particular pollutant, its concentration in the air, the length of time your lungs are exposed to it, and your own health. The concentrations of certain pollutants in the air can be measured with monitoring equipment to assess air quality. The DNR actively monitors many types of air pollutants through a statewide monitoring network. Air pollutants can also indirectly affect our health. Air pollutants deposited in lakes or rivers affect the quality of the water we drink and pollutants deposited on land or water enter the food chain and bio-accumulate in food we eat.